Continuous winding apparatus



April 12, 1960 N. P. KIMBERLY CONTINUOUS WINDING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 26, 1954 8 6 5 2T. 2 a w/ 5 1: v 1 M 40- El 9 J ARM \w u ELL we z 4\ 6 ATTORNEYS United States Patent CONTINUOUS WINDING APPARATUS Ned P. Kimberly, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor, by mesne assignments, to L-D-F Glass Fibers Company, Toledo, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application August 26, 1954, Serial No. 452,345

3 Claims. (Cl. 242-48) This invention relates to the production of continuous filaments from heat-softenable materials. In a more specific aspect this invention relates to an apparatus for continuously winding glass fibers during the continuous attenuation and formation thereof.

Glass filaments which are of continuous length and are thereby adapted to stranding and use in the weaving of fabrics are commonly produced by flowing a plurality of streams of molten glass through orifices provided in the bushing of a suitable melting furnace. Filament formation from the glass streams is effected by pulling the streams at a high rate of speed to attenuate them. The filaments are gathered into a strand by means of a suitable guideand the strand is directed into a uniform wind by a traversing head upon a rapidly rotating tube to provide a package similar in principle to a common spool of household sewing thread. Rotation of the tube provides the pulling force and speed for the attenuation process.

It is one common practice to stop rotation of a package while the same is removed from a winding collet and replaced with an empty tube. The attenuation process is subsequently repeated after the empty tube is in a winding position. Initiation of the attenuation process entails first manually inducing the flow of any streams that have ceased to how from the bushing orifices. The strand is manually formed by gathering the plurality of filaments and the wind is started upon the collet while it is slowly rotated. Since winding speed must be attained to stabilize furnace and orifice temperature and provide uniform diameter filament formation, a preliminary Wind is made upon the end of the winding collet before commencing the package. Of course, the preliminary wind is not of commercial quality and must therefore be discarded as waste. Time and materials are lost during this interval. Tube change therefore causes an interruption of the attenuation process with resultant loss of strand production and stable furnace conditions are upset. It is therefore obvious that a machine for continuously winding glass fibers without interruption of the attenuation process over long periods of time would provide a step forward in the art.

Accordingly, it is an important object of the present invention to provide a machine for continuously winding glass fibers.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a machine for winding heat-softenable fibers which is adapted to wind said fibers into successive packages without interrupting or varying the winding speed of the said fibers.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a machine for continuously winding heat-softenable fibers into successive packages whereby variable, controlled amounts of fiber can be wound into said packages.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent during the course of the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings wherein like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same:

Fig. 1 is a partial perspective View of a continuous winding machine made in accordance with the present invention, and shown in operative relation to a filament producing furnace;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the machine of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged, partial side elevational view of the machine of Fig. 2, showing the winding collets in operative relationship; and

Fig. 5 is a schematic View of the electrical control system of the machine, showing the traversing motors and their feed screws in perspective.

As shown in Fig. 1, reference numeral 10 designates in general manner the machine made according to the present invention, and positioned generally vertically beneath a glass filament furnace 11. Furnace 11 includes a container 12 to which suitable glass materials are supplied and melted. A bushing 13 is provided in the bottom of the container 12 and is provided with a plurality of orifices 14 formed therein through which small streams of molten glass are allowed to flow by gravity for high speed attenuation into very fine fibers, indicated by numeral 15. Fibers 15 are gathered into a strand 16 by means of a guide 17. The attenuation force is supplied by a rapidly rotating tube 18 supported upon a collet 19 of the machine 10 of the present invention. A traversing head 20 of conventional configuration is employed to lay the strand 16 in a uniform wind upon tube 18 to form a package 21 for distribution into commercial channels.

As shown in Fig. 2 the machine 10 of the present invention includes a bed 22, similar in structure to that of a conventional metal turning lathe, supported by four legs 23. Other parts of the machine 10 include winding heads 24 and 25 and traversing motors 26 and 27 for moving the winding heads in a to-and-fro manner upon the machine bed 22. Bed 22 is of box construction for rigidity and is provided, Fig. 3, with a pair of longitudinally extending ways 28 lying in the same horizontal plane and being spaced apart fromeach other a short distance for the reception of operating parts therebetween. Ways 28 are mirror images of each other, their top surfaces 29 being formed fiat for slidably supporting winding heads 24 and 25 thereupon. Surfaces 30 of ways 28 slope inwardly and downwardly toward the center line of bed 22. Sloping surfaces 31 of winding head 24, those of head 25 not being shown in Fig. 3, engage surfaces 29 and 30 for maintaining heads 24 and 25 in accurately aligned relation upon bed 22.

Winding heads 24 and 25 are mirror images of each other and will, for clarity, be described with reference to the left hand head 24, which includes a base casting 32 having a pair of spaced, vertically disposed support arms 33 and 34 cast integrally therewith and extending upwardly therefrom. Base casting 32 is provided with a flat, bottom surface 35 from which depending, inwardly slanting guide surfaces 31 extend, said slanting surfaces being interior surfaces of side runners 36 formed integrally with base casting 32. The fiat 35 and inwardly slanting surfaces 31 are adapted to intimately contact the surfaces 29 and 30 of ways 28 and by means of a suitable lubricant, to slide thereupon, as described above. While not shown, it is to be understood that suitable adjusting shims can be interposed between surfaces 30 and 31 for realignment of parts to compensate for wear, as is well known in the art.

46 is, provided with support lugs 41 and 4,2 spaced 180 apart around the periphery thereof, which lugs. are also provided with apertures 43 and 44 respectively. A pivot pin 45 is inserted through apertures 37 and 43, said apertures first being positioned in aligned relationship and a similar pivot pin 46 is inserted through apertures 38 and 44.. Motor 39 is thereby supported for pivotal movement on an axis perpendicular to the axis common to motor shafts 47 when the same are aligned.

A quadrant 48, formed integrally with the support lug 42 of motor housing 40, is provided with a pair of apertures 49 and t) positioned near the periphery of said quadrant and spaced 90 apart. Upstanding support arm 34 of base casting 32 is provided in its median portion Withan aperture 51, alignable with either of the apertures 49 or 50 of quadrant 48 and a sleeve 52 is secured as by welding to the side of support arm 34 to project exteriorly from aperture 51. Sleeve 52 is provided with an interior stepped, cylindrical bore 53, including a shoulder 54. An index pin 55 having a shank 56 and a handle 57, suitably secured thereto as by threading, is positioned in bore 53, the end surface 58 of handle 57 being adapted to abut the end 59 of sleeve 52 to provide a stop. A coil spring 60 is placed upon the shank 56 of index pin 55, between the shoulder 54 of bore 53 and a thrust pin 61 positioned transversely of shank 56 in a suitable aperture (not shown), provided therein. The shank 56 of index pin 55 is suitably provided with a cone shaped point 63 adapted to engage either aperture 49 or 50 of quadrant 48. Apertures 49 and 50 are so positioned that the shaft 47 of motor 39 can be placed in a horizontal position facing the other motor 39 for winding, or in a vertical position for loading a new tube 18 upon the chuck 19 thereof, re dotted outline of Fig. 4. Each winding motor 39 is provided with a rotatable shaft 47 upon which is mounted a collet 19 of conventional configuration for supporting a strand tube 18, made of varnish impregnated paperboard or the like, in the form of an open ended cylinder.

As shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 5, a traversing mechanism 64 is provided to move the winding heads 24 and 25 in a to-and-fro manner during operation of the machine 10. Traversing mechanism 64 comprises the pair of electric motors '26 and 27 mounted at the left hand end of the bed 22, and supported upon a mounting bracket 65, suitably bolted or welded to the outboard end of the bed. Each of the motors 26 and 27 is provided with a feed. shaft 66 and 67 respectively, which extends the length of :bed 22 and is rotatably journaled at its right hand end in a suitable bearing 68, secured to the right hand end of the bed. Shafts 66 and 67 are provided with right hand threads 69 and 70 respectively, along 7 their medial portions.

As shown in Fig. 3, each of the windingheads 24 and -25 is provided with a generally L-shaped, depending, connecting arm 71 and 72 respectively, which arms are provided at their upper ends with apertured bosses typified by 73, the boss 74 for arm 72 being hidden. Bosses 73 and 74 are bolted respectively to the bottom sides of castings 32 of winding heads 24 and 25. Arms 71 and 72 are provided at their lower ends with cylindrical bosses 75 and 76 respectively provided with threaded bores 77 and 78 whereby they are adapted to mate with the threads 69 and 70 of traverse shafts 66 and 67.

With reference to Fig. 5, wherein traverse motors 26 and 27 are shown in perspective and the electrical sys-' tern 79 is shown schematically, control of the traverse operation of the heads 24 and 25 will be described in detail. Motors 26 and 27 are of the synchronous, reversible type whereby they are adapted to turn their respective feed shafts 66 .and 67 in either clockwise or counterclockwise direction. When both motors 26 and 27 are actuated to turn in the same direction, the winding heads 24 and 25 will be traversed in the same direction upon bed 22 at the same lineal speed. The electrical system 79 includes two switches 80 and 81, each of the two-position type, the positions of each being designated I and r, l and r respectively. One side of a source of electrical energy is connected to each of the motors 26 and 27 by a line 8 2. Switches 86 and 81 are connected to the opposite side of the electrical source by line 33. By movement of switch 80 to its 1 position,

contact with terminal 84 is established and byline 85 connection is made to motor 26 and line 82 ofthe electrical source to thereby turn motor 26 in a clockwise direction. By movement of switch 86} to its r position, contact with terminal 86 is established and by line 87 connection is made tomotor 26- and line 82 of the electrical source to turn the motor in a counterclockwise direction. Switch 80 therefore is effective to cause winding head 24 to be moved in either a' left or right hand direction upon the bed of machine 10, re Figs. 2 and 4. By movement of switch 61 to its l position, contact with terminal fiti is established and by line 89 connection is made to motor 27 and line 82 of the electrical source to thereby turn motor 27 in a clockwise direction. By movement of switch 81 to its r position, contact with terminal 96 is established and by line 91 connection is made to motor 27 and line 82 of the electrical'source to turn the motor in a counterclockwise direction. Switch 81 therefore is effective to cause winding head 25 to be moved in either a left or right hand direction upon the bed 22 of machine 10.

With the above background, operation of machine 10 is as follows: With a tube 18 positioned upon the collet 19 of each Winding head 24 and 25 in for example the positions of Fig. 2, switches 39 and 81 are placed in neutral position. The drawing of fibers 15 by hand from furnace 11 is effected, said fibers being gatheredintoa strand 16 by threading past guide 17. The strand' '16 is also threaded past traversing head 29 and looped upon tube A for a couple of turns and motor 39 of winding head 24 is started and brought up to a proper attenu' ation speed. To and fro movement of the traversing head 29 is started, the same being synchronized to the rotational speed of motor 39 to provide auniform 'wind. Prior to the moment when tube A becomes filled with a selected amount of strand, motor 39 of winding head 25 is pivoted to a horizontal position by setting pin 55 of head 25 in aperture 5% of quadrant 48, with tube B facing tube A in end-to-end relation. Motor 39 of winding head 25 is then started and brought up to a winding speed equivalent to that of motor 39 of winding head 24 and switch 81 is then moved to its 1' position thus causing motor 27 to turn clockwise. The right hand traversing thread 7% of shaft 67 thereby moves winding head 25 to the left until tubes A and B are in intimate, abut ting, end-to-end relation, re Fig. 4, switch 81 then being opened and movement of the winding head 25 is stopped. Upon completion of the package upon tube A, switches 30 and 81 are simultaneously moved to their l and 1 positions. Simultaneous movement of both winding heads 24 and 25 to their left causes the strand 16 to be traversed without interruption from tube A onto tube B with only a single strand crossing over. When tube B is traversed to the left into the position formerly 0c cupied by tube A, movement of heads 24 and 25 is stopped by opening switches 80 and 81. The strand 16 forming the continuation between tubes A and B can be severed by means of a knife blade or the like or by closing switch 86 to its Z position to move head 24 a little to the left thus separating tubes A and B, stopping tube A and thus causing the strand to break. Motor 3.9 of winding head 24 is then pivoted to a vertical position and tube A, now filled with strand to form a package is replaced with an empty tube. For continuous .op

eration the above described cycle is reversed and repeated.

It is also within the operation of the present invention to employ a traversing head 20 which is capable of move ment from the left hand end of tube A, Fig. 4, to the right hand end of tube B. With a traversing head of this nature, operation of machine 10 is as follows:

A tube 18 is positioned upon each of the collets 19 of winding heads 24 and 25 in, for example, the positions shown in Fig. 2, switches 80 and 81 being in neutral position. Drawing of fibers 15 by hand from furnace 11 and Starting them upon tube A is effected in the manner previously described. Winding head 28 is set in motion to traverse across tube A in a to-and-fro manner to provide a desired wind. Prior to the moment when tube A is filled, motor 39 of winding head 25 is pivoted to a horizontal position by setting pin 55 of head 25 in aperture 56 of quadrant 48, with tube B facing tube A in end-to end relation. Motor 39 of head 25 is started and brought up to attenuation speed equivalent to that of motor 39 of winding head 24-. Switch 81 is then moved to its 1 position thus causing motor 27 to turn clockwise. The right hand traversing head 7% of shaft 67 thereby moves winding head 25 to the left until tubes A and B are in intimate, abutting, end-to-end relation as shown in Fig. 4. Switch 81 is then opened and movement of winding head 25 along the ways 28 of machine 10 is stopped.

Upon completion of the package of tube A, traversing head 20 is activated to move across from tube A to tube B and thereby transfer the strand 16 in an uninterrupted manner to tube 13, with but a single strand crossing over. The strand 16 forming the continuation between tubes A and B is then severed by a. knife blade or the like, or merely by closing switch 80 to its 1 position to move head 24 to the left thus separating tubes A and B, stopping tube A and thus causing the strand to break. Motor 39 of winding head 24 being moved to the left an ample distance for clearance is then pivoted to a vertical position and tube A, now filled with strand to form a package, is replaced with an empty tube. For continuous operation the above described cycle is reversed and repeated.

It will thus be obvious that the present invention provides a machine for the continuous winding of heat-softenable fibers onto successive tubes without interruption of the attenuation process. The present machine provides improved quality of strand and economy of oper ation and increased production from a single glass melting furnace.

While the present invention has been described with reference to the production of fibers from glass, it will be readily understood that production of fibers from other heat-softenable materials such as synthetic resins and the like is to be included in the scope of the present invention without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for continuously winding strand materials comprising a longitudinal frame, first and second motors movably mounted on said frame, said motors having shafts adapted for movement along a common axis, said shafts carrying tubes upon which strand materials are adapted to be wound, third and fourth motors mounted on said frame and operatively connected respectively to said first and second motors for moving the same longitudinally of said frame, and control means for said third and fourth motors, whereby said first and second motors are moved toward each other to place said tubes in intimate end-to-end relation for winding strand from one tube to the other without interruption, and said motors are then moved apart for replacement of said tubes.

2. Apparatus for continuously winding strand materials comprising a longitudinal frame, first and second motors movably mounted on said frame, said motors having shafts adapted for movement along a common axis, said shafts carrying tubes upon which strand materials are adapted to be wound, third and fourth motors mounted on said frame and operatively connected respectively to said first and second motors for moving the same longitudinally of said frame, means for pivoting said first and second motors on axes perpendicular to the axis common to the shafts thereof, and control means for said third and fourth motors, whereby said first and second motors are moved toward each other to place said tubes in intimate end-to-end relation for winding strand from one tube to the other without interruption and said spindles are then moved apart for manual pivoting and replacement of said tubes.

3. Apparatus for continuously winding strand materials, comprising a frame, a pair of individual synchronously driven winding heads mounted upon said frame for movement along a common axis, means for traversing said winding heads while in end-to-end engagement to transfer a winding strand from one head to the other in a continuous and uninterrupted manner, means for moving said heads into and out of end-to'end engagement, and means for individually pivoting said heads on axes perpendicular to said common axis for loading and unloading thereof, said means for traversing said heads comprising a pair of synchronous electric motors, each of saidmotors having a threaded shaft, each shaft being operatively connected to a winding head and adapted to move said head in a lineal manner upon rotation thereof, and means for pivoting said heads comprising manual means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,978,474 Nye Oct. 30, 1934 2,066,377 Wean et al. Jan. 5, 1937 2,490,685 Greene Dec. 6, 1949 2,622,810 Stream et al. Dec. 23, 1952 2,653,773 Davis Sept. 29, 1953 2,663,507 Sousslofi Dec. 22, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 832,651 Germany Feb. 28, 1952 

